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Christmas

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Original poster

What is the BEST Christmas present you've ever received?

166 replies

ArblemarchTFruitbat · 13/11/2021 09:13

Inspired by the 'worst' present thread, would anyone like to share their happier present-unwrapping moments?

Mine would have to be the train set I received when I was four. Not electric but it was a really elaborate one with tracks that you could put together in an infinite number of ways, and came with little trains to push around. I loved trains (still do) and I was over the moon!

There's a picture of me playing with it wearing my 70s long party dress (which always made me feel like a princess even though I was a very plain child) and a silver paper crown and it sums up the joy of childhood Christmases for me.

OP posts:
StCharlotte · 13/11/2021 14:23

As a child it was a navy blue Silver Cross style dolls pram. It must have cost a fortune and we weren't well off at all. I absolutely adored it.

As an adult DH and I took on a business which was open 7 days a week. On my feet the whole time. No rest for the wicked. He bought me a year's worth of pedicures (and the following year a year's worth of haircuts).

Oh and we got married by special licence - It's a beautiful legal document with the Archbishop of Canterbury's seal. He got it framed for Christmas and it still takes pride of place decades later.

Sn0tnose · 13/11/2021 14:31

Mine was the first Christmas I spent with DH. I’d had a silver chain with a charm on it that I loved. It was only a cheap thing and I’d broken it beyond repair during the summer and had been quite sad about it. DH tracked down a better version and gave it to me that Christmas. The thought and effort he put into it made it priceless to me.

cultkid · 13/11/2021 14:35

@Gusthemouse I didn't even know they made double dolls prams at the time
I also got a rabbit that year and a bike. My dad got a big promotion. It's lovely you kept it. Hang on to it. Very dear memories about the magic of being a child x

Dullardmullard · 13/11/2021 14:46

@StCharlotte

As a child it was a navy blue Silver Cross style dolls pram. It must have cost a fortune and we weren't well off at all. I absolutely adored it.

As an adult DH and I took on a business which was open 7 days a week. On my feet the whole time. No rest for the wicked. He bought me a year's worth of pedicures (and the following year a year's worth of haircuts).

Oh and we got married by special licence - It's a beautiful legal document with the Archbishop of Canterbury's seal. He got it framed for Christmas and it still takes pride of place decades later.

Mine was racing green I loved that pram and managed to keep it well my gran did for my daughter years later. Daughter sold it for over 1K as it was kept in mint condition after we stored it away.
brogan1972 · 13/11/2021 14:52

when I was 7, I got a hardback "Wuthering Heights book" and a box of Dairy Box chocolates. I felt so grown up.

1stTimeMama · 13/11/2021 15:07

My most memorable was a cheque for £10,000 in my cracker!
It was my inheritance from my Nan, and when it fell out and I read it I burst in to tears and could barely eat!

nettytree · 13/11/2021 15:15

My baby boy. He's going to be 15 this year. Best present ever.

Recycledblonde · 13/11/2021 15:33

I remember getting a long pink flowery nightie with crocheted lace at the cuffs with a pink quilted dressing gown when I was about 7.. I felt like a princess.
As an adult, the kindle my DH got me and a cashmere dressing gown. He knows me well!😆

inappropriateraspberry · 13/11/2021 15:41

@ArblemarchTFruitbat

Inspired by the 'worst' present thread, would anyone like to share their happier present-unwrapping moments?

Mine would have to be the train set I received when I was four. Not electric but it was a really elaborate one with tracks that you could put together in an infinite number of ways, and came with little trains to push around. I loved trains (still do) and I was over the moon!

There's a picture of me playing with it wearing my 70s long party dress (which always made me feel like a princess even though I was a very plain child) and a silver paper crown and it sums up the joy of childhood Christmases for me.

Was it a red plastic train set with yellow supports for the bridges?
MrsJohnBender84 · 13/11/2021 15:43

My cabbage patch doll! She even had rbis beautiful smell which she still has and just reminds me of that lovely Christmas when I was little. I couldn't believe it (1980's people were trampling each other in the shops to get one 😳) so I didn't think I'd get one but I hadn't made a fuss so was overjoyed to unwrap her,..! Good ole Santa 🎅😁

MrsJohnBender84 · 13/11/2021 15:43

Nice smell that's meant to be!?. weird typo 😳🤣

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 13/11/2021 15:44

Skis

StCharlotte · 13/11/2021 15:45

Mine was racing green I loved that pram and managed to keep it well my gran did for my daughter years later. Daughter sold it for over 1K as it was kept in mint condition after we stored it away.

I deleted a bit about being made to give it to a younger cousin who - as I predicted she would - left it out in the rain and ruined it. Nearly half a decade on I still haven't forgiven her (or her mother!). And now after your "result" I'm even silver crosser! Grin

Workinghardeveryday · 13/11/2021 15:48

When I was 8 I got a real shop till. I absolutely loved it. When I was that age when I grew up I wanted to work on a till.

Even turned the shed into a shop - it was brilliant!!

LemonWeb · 13/11/2021 15:51

Ds2 slept through the night for the very first time and I woke up refreshed after 8 hours of sleep on Christmas morning!

Pbbananabagel · 13/11/2021 15:52

A new kindle from my wonderful husband last year because he knew I was worried as my old one kept crashing and even 1 night without it would be hard for me. He splashed out for the one with built in cellular so I never have to go without books. Grin good man

RicherThanYew · 13/11/2021 15:56

My stepdad bought me an appointment with a solicitor for Christmas when I was 18 and I changed my surname to his. 15 years later and I still use it every single day so it has kept its value Grin

DelphiniumBlue · 13/11/2021 16:07

Gosh, reading this thread has brought back a few memories.
My parents were both quite "handy" which was just as well as we had no money.
One year, I had a dolls pram which had refurbished by dad. This was in the days when pre=schoolers could play outside in London streets without supervision, and I spent hours wheeling it up and down the road. He also made dolls house furniture for me out of thing like cotton reels, and I can also remember bing thrilled with my own set of wooden garden furniture which he had painted and restored, when I was about 3 or 4. My mum made me a rag doll with an embroidered face when I was about 5, which i just loved, and also would make clothes for my Sindy.

My mum also used to make my clothes, I used to feel so proud when people commented on how nice they were. One year, when I was about 15, we were particularly skint, and I had been warned in advance not to expect much. My mum made me a very trendy petticoat; the fashion was to have a lacy Victorian style petticoat peeking out from under a tiered midi skirt. She ran one up out of an old sheet and bits of lace and it was just perfect, and she'd made it so that it was form fitting at the top, so not bulky round the hips, and then tiered at the bottom so it flounced nicely. I was ecstatic, it was exactly what I had wanted!

2020nymph · 13/11/2021 16:09

@CoffeeChocolateWine my favourite was also My Little Pony Dream Castle. We were allowed to open our stocking when we got up. I was so upset when I didn't see it as I had asked Father Christmas for it, I woke my parents up in floods of tears, I could barely speak. I kept telling them I had been good. My dad carried me downstairs and it was sat all made up under the tree!

RicherThanYew · 13/11/2021 16:13

I had to do an hours commute to school everyday and I only coped with the boredom, delays and breakdowns with the aid of my digital walkman but it broke. I was gutted but I didn't tell my parents as I didn't want them to be angry with me and think that I wasnt taking care of my things so for 8 months I went without and took a book. Christmas morning came and they bought me a laptop for my school work, a beautiful watch from Guess, a Nintendo Wii and new games for my Nintendo DS so I was already overwhelmed with how lucky I was. The last box I opened was very little and it wad a silver Ipod. I screamed a bit 🙈 they knew I didn't have my music the whole time and it meant the world to me that they bought me a new MP3.

Just as a side note, I did NOT grow up with money, riches or wealth. The previous Christmas I had one present, a Scrabble board game and I wrapped it myself. The Christmas with the Ipod was the most generous I have ever had in my whole life.

2020nymph · 13/11/2021 16:13

@prettyteapotsplease

I got a Floral Garden set - I suppose it was like a construction kit, with a pretend lawn, little bricks to put round flower beds and teeny, weeny roses to put on leaves, fences and crazy paving. The minute pieces were mostly plastic and obviously some would get lost up the vacuum cleaner. But it was mine and I loved it.

My mum had a set like this and when we went to my nan's we were allowed to play with it. It was brilliant, my sister and I spent many, many hours playing with it.

2020nymph · 13/11/2021 16:15

@Grawlix

I think I put this on another, similar thread once under a different nn but here goes again.......when I was quite small (pre-school, iirc) my DPs presented me with a toy farm on Christmas day. I was completely thrilled with it. There were little animals, cows and maybe a few sheep, and my absolute favourite thing was a tree with bare branches. Everything fitted into a pegboard base.

Years later DM told me they were really hard up at the time and they'd made it all. The animals were just little toy figures bought cheaply from a shop, DF made the wooden fences and the 'tree' was a grapestalk they'd dried and painted green.

DM died last year (DF died several years before that) and thinking about it now just makes me well up.

Wow, what an amazing and thoughtful gift. I'm sorry for your loss.

RicherThanYew · 13/11/2021 16:15

@DelphiniumBlue Your parents sound very loving and you seem like a grateful and lovely person. I'm a bit jealous of your handmade gifts!

50ShadesOfCatholic · 13/11/2021 16:16

A rag doll my mum made for me dressed in a school uniform. I was 3 and DESPERATE to start school. I was so freaking happy with my doll that I didn't want to open anything else, I just wanted to go away and play with my beautiful doll.

maddiemookins16mum · 13/11/2021 16:34

Dec 25 1970. A dolls pram with a tiny tears asleep under home made blankets. It was that day I realised that my single mum was just the best. Turns out she’d start getting things out the ‘catalogue’ from January and pay it off over the year. It was the best present ever.